That's a Promise (4 page)

He didn’t touch me, but the electricity that stirred within me from his proximity, was intoxicating. With his finger still lightly touching the pendant, he leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Your necklace really only helped bring my attention to your gorgeous neck.”

I swallowed and bit my lip to hide the moan that had begun to escape my mouth, and his eyes zoned in on my lips. He seemed to like my reaction, because he leaned into me a little more.

“May I touch you now?” he asked.

I breathed out a “yes,” and then nodded to make sure he knew for sure I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to touch me more than I could understand. It was as if my body was calling to him. I held my breath as his hand gripped my waist drawing my body to his, while his other hand reached up and traced my jaw. He dropped his hand, but I could still feel the memorable tingle that his fingers left behind. I focused on that touch and closed my eyes, tilted my head back, and moaned lightly.

I subconsciously hoped that the music was loud enough to cover my embarrassing behavior, but I almost didn’t even care because his hands were still on me. In fact, I thought I may have heard him moan deeply right before he pulled me even closer and continued to grind his hips into me. I felt the muscles in his arms as I worked my hands up to the back of his neck. I grazed my thumb over the stubble on his face enjoying the roughness before I moved my hands to rest in his short, soft brown hair.

“You are so beautiful, Josie. I noticed you as soon as you walked into the house.”

I smiled and shook my head knowing that it was probably untrue. There wasn’t much to me, so I didn’t understand how he would notice me. I was very short and had a very slender figure. I had a little bit of curve in my butt, but that was about it. The jolt of pleasure from hearing him tell me I was beautiful and that he noticed me was something I had never experienced.

I used the pleasure that he gave me as encouragement to get a little bit bolder with my dancing. I turned around and backed myself into him. He wrapped his hands around my stomach and I reached my arms up to wrap behind his neck. We moved together and there were no other words for our dancing than hot. It was sexy and intimate, and I was completely captivated by him and the music. I didn’t even worry about the height difference, because all that mattered to me in that moment was that Blake was holding me. It was enough for me. It was perfect.

We danced together for multiple songs before we decided to go back and get something to drink. I noticed Brooke in the crowd making out with some girl that she probably just met. I laughed because she did that almost every time she got drunk. I made my way to her to let her know I was going to get a drink, and then continued to the kitchen with Blake.

Blake went to grab me a beer, so I spoke up and said, “Oh, I’m not drinking. I’m designated driver tonight.”

“Ah, well you could always stay here so you don’t have to drive.” He smiled mischievously at me before putting the beer back and grabbing me a water.

“Not only would that be incredibly stupid of me to stay the night in a random house with a complete stranger, but I don’t even know whose house this is.”

He laughed and looked at me in the eyes. “I like that you do that,” he said.

“Do what?” I asked, confused.

“You just say whatever you’re thinking. Also, the fact that you didn’t agree to stay. Because you’re right, it is stupid. Even worse than that is that there are plenty of girls who have and even tonight will agree to stay with someone they just met.” He shook his head and then grabbed my hand before directing me towards the back door of the house that led to the back porch. There were a few people in the yard smoking and talking, but the porch was empty.

He took me over to a couple of rocking chairs seated in the corner of the porch, and we sat down. The wind blew some of my curls in my face, and before I was able to reach out and fix it, his hand gently pushed it back behind my ear. My breath caught as he touched me so gently, taking his time trailing his hand through my hair. He looked in my eyes again, and I was glad to have that moment to take in the depth that his eyes held. They were so brown, but not in a sinister way. There was so much depth in them.

“So, Josie, tell me a little about yourself. I haven’t seen you around campus before, are you a freshman?” he asked, leaning back into his chair.

This was comfortable territory for me. I could do the small talk. It was these other reactions that confused me.

“I’m a junior, but I just started here,” I answered.

“Oh, okay. So where did you transfer from?”

“Just a community college in Wilson.” I didn’t need or want to elaborate on why I needed those two years at home to get my shit together before coming to a bigger campus. Blake must have sensed that any revelations about my life were limited because he didn’t ask me any more questions about my transfer.

“What about you? What year are you? What is
your
story, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor?”

He laughed lightly, a soft deep laugh that warmed my insides. “I’m a senior. They didn’t offer knight training at this college, so I had to settle for architecture. What’s your major?”

“Well, my major is childhood education, but I still really don’t know if that’s what I want to do. I mean I know I want to be some kind of teacher, but lately I’ve been contemplating becoming a guidance counselor. It’s hard because they ask us so young what we want to do with our lives, and I feel like I had to just pick something without really knowing.” I was rambling, a habit of mine that I wish I could turn off, but wouldn’t go away. He just smiled at me, so I didn’t think he was about to run away just yet.

“You’re right. A few friends of mine had that same problem. They graduated with something that they realized they aren’t happy with, but are stuck with it. I’ve known that I wanted to go into architecture my whole life, though, so it was easy for me. My dad wanted me to go into business like he did, but it just wasn’t something I ever wanted to do.”

I look over at him definitely interested in learning more about him. “Was he mad that you chose architecture?”

Blake looked away and seemed to think about his answer before replying to me. He clenched his jaw, and I saw his hand turn into a fist. “I don’t really care what he thinks about what I chose. He’s a bad person, and I don’t talk to him anymore. He may not have liked it at the time, but he doesn’t get to choose how I live my life.” I knew I should have left it at that and respect his answer like he did with me, but curiosity got the best of me.

“What about your mom?”

He looked back at me and grinned, any frustration drained from his posture and expression. “Now my Ma is the best supporter I have. She and my dad divorced about 15 years ago, so I always had her to keep me on the right track. She has always had faith in me to do what’s right, and she always makes me feel like I can do anything. It’s so corny to talk about my ma like that, but I love her.”

“My parents are like that too. I know I can always count on them.” I smiled at him. We sat in a comfortable silence for a couple minutes before he reached over and took my hand in his. My hand looked delicate and small in his hand, but it felt incredible. The butterflies started fluttering in my stomach again.

“So can we get the first date information out of the way? What’s your favorite color, book, movie, song? All of that stuff,” he said, smiling at me. Everything about him, his demeanor and the swipe of his thumb against my hand, made me feel comfortable and at ease talking to him. I felt giddy at the sound of a first date.

“Let’s see… My favorite color is green. My favorite movie for right now is
Superbad
. I love to read, so I couldn’t even tell you my favorite book. Probably the Harry Potter series. I’ve read them all about four times. My favorite song changes every day, but today it’s Bubbly by Colbie Caillat.” I laughed, because I knew I sounded ridiculous. He just smiled at me and I repeated the same question to him.

“Hmm… Blue is my favorite color, but not just any blue. I love a dark, kind of royal looking blue. My favorite movie is
Toy Story
,” he smirked at me as he said that, and I smiled back, enjoying his answers. “Ok, I’m gonna be real right now, and let you know that my favorite book would have to be
When you Give a Mouse a Cookie
… such a good book
,”
he said with a laugh. “And finally, my favorite song today is
Slow Dance
by Framing Hanley.”

I took in his answers, and was surprised that such simple questions could help shape him into something more… real? I wanted to keep talking to him, but as I began to ask him something else, the back door swung open and Seth came stumbling out. Blake and I both turned in his direction, and Seth must have noticed the movement because he started towards us.

“There you are, Pussy Cat, I was looking for you. Brooke told me you punched some guy.” Seth had clearly consumed a couple of beers, seeing as he was only five feet from us and he felt the need to raise his voice. Blake pulled his hand away from mine as Seth came up to me, making me feel a twinge of hurt.

“Yup. He thought it would be a good idea to wrap his arm around my waist without permission, so I taught him a lesson. He was about to hit me back when Blake stepped in and punched him.” He seemed to sober up a little more at this new information, and knelt down in front of me and brought his hands to my face. “Are you ok? I’m so sorry I wasn’t out there with you,” he said softly.

I hugged him and whispered to him, “You can’t be there every time, Seth… I’m okay.”

I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye, and saw Blake stand and lean against the railing overlooking the moment between Seth and me. His brows creased slightly in confusion, before he smoothed out his features and gave me a small smile.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you around, Josie. I better get back and make sure no one destroys my house,” Blake said to me, his gaze no longer holding the same interest it did earlier.

“Oh ok. See you around.”
So this is his house,
I speculated. I was definitely disappointed that he decided to leave, but there was nothing I could do about it. I got up and I wasn’t sure if I should hug him, shake his hand, or maybe fist bump him? So I kind of just stood there before he turned and walked back into the house. Talk about awkward.
What happened?

“Well, that was weird,” Seth said pulling my attention away from the awkward goodbye. I shrugged as if it was no big deal, and wrapped an arm around his waist. I figured it was time to go, so we started to head inside the house to find Brooke.

“Do you see Brooke anywhere?” I asked Seth, scanning the crowd.

“She’s over there with that guy,” Seth said pointing in the direction of my clearly indisposed friend.

I spotted her blonde head flirting shamelessly with a handsome guy who looked around our age. He was really cute. She kept touching his arm and leaning in so that he could get a better look at her rack. I walked up to them and let her know that we were ready to leave.

“Ah man! I just met this handsome feller,” she said with a southern accent that came out whenever she got drunk. I needed to get her back to bed or else she would skip classes the next day. I raised my eyebrows to the guy she was chatting with and he smiled.

“I’ll help you get her to your car. I already put my number in her phone if she would like to call me sometime,” he said to me. I gave him a grateful smile, because I knew I couldn’t handle two intoxicated people. He was very handsome, in a little brother kind of way. He had shaggy dark brown hair, was pretty tall, and had green eyes. Most importantly, he seemed genuinely sweet, and that made him ok in my book. He smiled down at Brooke and wrapped his arm around her shoulders so he could guide her out of the house.

We were walking towards the door when I recognized a tall dark haired guy leaning over a redheaded girl against the wall. Blake was saying something in her ear, just as he had done to me earlier. I couldn’t tear my eyes away, and watched as he slipped out his tongue and licked the pretty girl on her neck. I saw her roll her eyes into the back of the head, and I could only imagine how it would have felt to have that tongue on me. He slanted his head, and caught my eye. He smiled that sexy half smile of his, before he went back to making the girl melt at his feet.

I didn’t know why I was hurt or disappointed, but I knew that the sting of disappointment was there. Seth came up next to me and grabbed my hand. The comfort and familiarity of my friend helped calm the unsettling feelings that had started to plague my heart. I shook myself out of the fog, and continued to the truck. Seth didn’t have to say anything to me and the constant run of his thumb against my hand was just what I needed. I always loved his hands. They were soft, but they had callouses on them from helping his parents on the farm growing up, which made them even more appealing to touch.

Everyone got in the truck safely, and I thanked the guy who helped get Brooke in the truck safely. He told me his name was Brandon, and to make sure that Brooke remembered him in the morning in case she forgot. I committed his name to memory, and drove back to the dorms where I would soon be able to sleep away the confusing night.

Chapter 4

Brooke had passed out in the five minute ride to the dorms.

Luckily, the dorms were co-ed and Seth lived in the same dorm building as us. He helped carry her up to our dorm room and put her to bed. I went to cover her up before I turned around and found Seth staring at me.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there when that guy touched you,” he finally stated after a minute.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I needed to let him know it was okay. “Seth, I was in the middle of a dancing crowd. I knew what I was getting into when I went in there. He shouldn’t have assumed I wanted his dirty hands on me, but sometimes it happens. I’m okay.”

“Jos, I don’t know what I would do if I fucked up and didn’t protect you again. I-“